Finding joy in every measure
By Bill Vossler
Few people at five years of age set themselves up for what they do later in life. But Brad Miller of St. Joseph did, leading him to become a director of choral music for his upcoming 26th year.
“I do not remember a time when music was not exciting to me. I loved singing along with the radio and my records on my portable record player as a young child. Because my babysitter was taking piano lessons, I laid under the grand piano and listened to her play, enamored.
That’s what drew me to music from my childhood. So at age five I begged and begged until my folks let me begin taking piano lessons.”
A pair of incidents cemented his love for vocal music. “When I was very young, in elementary school, my parents told me I was a good singer, and were excited about my singing abilities. But I did not initially join choir until one day in fifth grade a friend said ‘You should come to choir today,’ and dragged me down to the rehearsal room. I’ve never stopped since.”
Though he knew he had musical ability, what really made a major difference in his life and led him to become the Associate Professor of Music at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, and Bethlehem Lutheran Choir director, he is today, was mentors. “In high school I had a really great choir director, who made sure that in addition to singing in the ensemble I took advantage of singing contests and auditioning for the Minnesota all-state choir.”
Other excellent mentors taught him at all levels through two graduate degrees. “They were motivating, inspiring, and pushed me to do the best work I could.”
One stood out, the renowned René Clausen at Concordia College in Moorhead. “He is the whole package, an incredible musician, conductor, gifted composer, an inspiring teacher. He engages singers in a way that is unmatched. We rehearsed for more than seven hours a week and I loved every second. Such a gift and I am so grateful I had my favorite undergraduate class with him, Choral Conducting. I was such a sponge. Through those classes I found my path, and it felt really natural, meaningful, and I fell in love with leading from the podium. It was thrilling to learn how to guide an ensemble toward powerful musical moments and experiences.”
He added, “Clausen’s insistence, persistence, and unrelenting commitment to musical excellence was life changing for me. We would attack every single unwavering detail, and not accept less than the best we could do.”
But Clausen’s mentorship for Brad entailed more than music. “He is such a brilliant and interesting person, and so well spoken. Each rehearsal was full of sage wisdom and evocative metaphors. The one that has lived with me the longest, and I’ve shared with students, ‘Your voice box lies exactly between your head and your heart, and to make transcendent music you need both. Too much head means dry music, and too much heart gets messy. There should be a perfect balance between the technical and the emotional.’ I was transformed by my experience with him.”
That led to Brad’s love of language. “I try to speak to the choir like the choir I want them to become. I don’t dumb things down, like Clausen. His eloquent speaking was so powerful that I have tried to emulate that in my life. I’m pretty careful about words, because the wrong words in a choir rehearsal can cut so deeply.”
Parts of his rehearsals can be hilarious. As alto Nikki Rajala said, “Brad said every Italian word in music means the same thing: ‘Watch the conductor,’” she laughed.
Other concepts Brad said, “When making the sound of ‘oh,’ hold your lips north and south, not east and west.” Comments like these--actually teaching tips--always got a chuckle or even a roar from his church choir,” one member said.
Brad said, “I can read a room pretty well, so I know when I can spar a bit, and tell an offhand joke, like ‘A right note sung at the wrong time is still a wrong note.’ I try to draw people in with kindness, collaboration, and sense of shared purpose, rather than a wholly autocratic approach. All conductors are different, but this style works best for me and my personality.”
Other Bradisms include “Never louder than beautiful,” or “The snakes were hissing at the letter S at the end of that last line.”
“Over the years, I’ve learned not to take myself so seriously, and that helps. I like to have fun and laugh during rehearsals, which enhances the serious musical work being done.”
Brad said many people don’t really understand what a choral director does, outside of waving the baton. “The conductor’s job is to tell the ensemble the ‘when and how’ through physical gestures. So we conductors come in before singing, examine the notes, and circle the spots in the score where we think singers will have problems--maybe they’ll make a mistake there because we know the singers and their abilities. Nobody sees me analyzing the piece’s structure, doing a harmonic analysis, playing and singing through every part before rehearsals. I have to know what I want to hear, then tune in to the sound being made by the choir, and reconciling the two, using strategies to teach difficult concepts and bring the ensemble as close to our artistic vision as we can.”
“I don’t have perfect pitch. But I hear really well, and can identify singing that is sharp, flat, lacking uniformity, out of balance, because it is a skill that I developed and continue to refine. We get better at hearing the more we work, just as we get better in many things in life the more we work.”
Tenor Chuck Nielson of St. Cloud in Brad’s church choir, said he and another tenor talked about Brad’s amazing hearing skills. “Once while we were all singing,” Chuck said, “Brad heard two groups singing the wrong note, so he pointed at each group, sang the correct note, and had them both singing the right note. Amazing to do that while all the groups are still singing.”
Brad said choosing music for a church choir is very different than for a college choir. “For the church choir I think about the Sunday theme and the scripture readings, asking myself ‘How can we enhance and deepen our own understanding of the text and the pastor’s message?’ It’s really special to sing the same text as in the scripture reading for that Sunday. I appreciate the joy the church choir brings, and that’s pretty motivating.”
For his college choir, the context is very different, he said. “We‘re an educational institution and it’s my job to program a repertoire broad and balanced for my students, including western art music from renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and 20th century eras amidst music of different cultures. Having the same students four straight years, we can hit all these different eras a couple of times. But also lifting voices who have historically not been included, people of color, women, other communities, and global cultures like music of African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American traditions. That’s a challenging repertoire of much variety, while teaching music skills at the same time. We want to be story tellers on the stage, as well as communicating what the composer or poet or author or lyricist is trying to say. The music must also be anchored in the Benedictine Values of St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, so those values guide my work.”
Brad replaced Axel Theimer. “It is intimidating to follow someone who is so revered and brilliant and was at the college for 52 years. People used to say ‘You’ve got big shoes to fill.’ I’d usually reply, ‘I’m trying to bring my own shoes.’ He and I were very complementary but very different. Because I am from central Minnesota, I’ve known Axel since I was a young teacher, and sang in his Kantorei choir in the Twin Cities for three seasons. I think we learn from everyone we encounter, and I learned a lot from Axel.”
“I always promised myself that I would be myself. So I don’t try to be a new Axel or René Clausen, but just be Brad, and use the attributes these people have given me.”
Brad’s hardest class at Concordia was not in music. “It was a Christian ethics class, so hard and I hated it,” he laughed. “But I learned a lot about persistence and grit. I knew I had to get through the class, so I did. I think having persistence and grit is another way to learn in our lives.”
“I always envisioned myself teaching at a liberal arts institution, and that was certainly shaped by my experience as a student at Concordia College and two other liberal arts colleges I taught at. I chose to apply at Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s because of the quality of the school and the wonderful choral tradition developed by my predecessor, Axel Theimer. Further, I grew up in Milaca and my wife in Nisswa, so returning to the St. Cloud area felt like a homecoming. Family is so important to us and we’re grateful that our children see their grandparents regularly.”
He added that it’s a very unique relationship between the two institutions. “While they are separate liberal arts schools, everything is strongly integrated with an identical academic program and students taking classes on both campuses, together. I teach all my courses on the SJU campus. I conduct the Chamber Choir, Men’s Chorus, and teach courses in conducting and music pedagogy, as well as work with graduate students, an added bonus.”
He enjoys working with the choir at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Cloud, and this fall will start his 26th year of teaching. “Besides it being my profession, it is my hobby, too. It’s a double-edged sword. I love it so much, but sometimes it drives me a little nuts--which is why I play golf,” he laughed.
Brad said, “Music often gives us the lesson long before we understand its importance. The fine arts and humanities help us to better understand what it means to be alive, and to be human. What music and fine arts can do so well is to widen our world view and the lens through which we see other.”
Meaningful texts set to music, he said, “allow us to explore the heights of ecstasy and the depths of despair, and everything in between. We explore life and the world through the perspective of someone else, making connections to our own lived experience. It’s a powerful way to find meaning in this world.”
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